Do age-laws deter drinking?

Although it is illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to consume an alcoholic beverage outside of their own home, this does nothing to deter the amount of teen drinkers. It seems to encourage more drinking rather than making it less. This poses the question, "Does having the drinking age be 21 actually stop or discourage underage drinking?"

In the United States, underage alcohol abuse is one of the biggest problems among the teens. This is a very serious problem that we face today. The statistic that over 32% of drinkers are underage is astounding. How are all of these teens gaining such easy access to all of this alcohol. The answer is simple, the laws are not be regulated strictly enough. But whose fault is this really? Police have been trying to crack down on it, but it is much to frequent to stop all of them. The parents are the ones that need to talk with their kids about it. But ultimately, it is the fault of the teens if they are drinking and they need to be responsible for their own actions.

Wit all of these underage drinkers getting away with drinking, it raises the question, "do these underage drinking laws actually work?" I would argue that they don't work, actually, it seems they almost encourage more drinking. The rebellious nature of teenagers makes them want to go against the law and do what they want. This means that drinking presents them with a risk that they want to take and will continue to keep taking. If the laws weren't there, would this many kids drink? Or would it not be as "exciting" anymore if they were allowed to and would less of them drink, or at least stop abusing alcohol?